Details for Conduct and Management of Field Trials

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Conduct and Management of Field Trials

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Field trials are very important in maize research. In particular, breeders conduct different types of fi eld trialsin the process of developing new varieties. Each type of trial has its peculiarities. Apart from those conductedby the individual breeders in their research programs, there are collaborative trials conducted nationally orinternationally. Annually, national collaborative trials are constituted from candidate varieties submitted byparticipating researchers in a country. Similarly, IITA coordinates international trials from candidate varietiesdeveloped by IITA’s scientists and their national counterparts in the countries of WCA. Data obtained fromfi eld trials are intended for use in arriving at decisions on the varieties to release, the agronomic practices torecommend, and the disease, insect, or weed control measures to adopt. Therefore, a certain measureof uniformity of execution that would minimize spurious results is expected in national and regionalcollaborative trials.The experience of maize researchers accumulated over several decades in the subregion has clearly indicatedthe need for training researchers and technicians in the conduct and management of maize fi eld trials. The datarecovery rate from national and particularly from international (regional) trials has never been 100% in WCA.Very often, data returned to trial coordinators are not analyzable and are, therefore, not usable. Sometimes, thecoeffi cients of variation (CV) associated with measured traits are too large, thus rendering such data unusable.Researchers defi ne certain traits differently. An example is plant height. Some researchers defi ne it as thedistance from the soil surface to the node bearing the fl ag leaf (topmost leaf); some others defi ne it as thedistance from the soil surface to the height of the central tassel branch.The purpose of this book is to correct these anomalies as far as possible. The materials were carefully thoughtout and are presented in a logical sequence by the authors. The contents have been used in several trainingcourses and refi ned over time. Starting with the purpose and types of maize variety trials, the authors followwith an exhaustive description of designing, laying out, and conducting maize variety trials. Sources of spuriousdata in maize research include the timing and rate of application of agronomic practices, data collection,harvesting, and preparation of data for analysis. The authors focus attention on these areas in four differentsections. Examples, illustrations, practice problems, materials needed for fi eld work, and revision questionsare given in the annexes. Students, technicians, as well as research scientists will fi nd this book an invaluablecompanion in the execution of their research work.